About DeviantArt relevancy

[Derek Von Zarovich]

Hello everybody, my name is Derek, you may have seen my illustrations around.

So to the point, I don't have DeviantArt. I've never have, but I've seen that many great map artists here have a portfolio on their DeviantArt profiles.

So the question is, is it still relevant or useful to have it?
for pro artists, has it brought you much business or is it just a social hub for artists.


Thanks for your responses

[Bogie]

While it is a social hub for artists, it has brought me some commissions.

[J.Edward]

I have gotten a load of commissions from my deviant art profile.
I've gotten some from people seeing my work on pinterest.
Some from my own website.
A load from here on the Guild.
Some even knew of me from Red Bubble, when I used to have more work over there.
I am starting to see some activity from Behance and Artstation.

Some people use Facebook, twitter, instagram, and others.
I just don't care for some of those sites, but others will use any platform available.
Sapiento and Max are both really good at their presence online, being on most sites.
It is just something you do as a freelance artist, putting your work out where it will get seen, wherever that may be.

[Wired]

I have gotten a load of commissions from my deviant art profile.
I've gotten some from people seeing my work on pinterest.
Some from my own website.
A load from here on the Guild.
Some even knew of me from Red Bubble, when I used to have more work over there.
I am starting to see some activity from Behance and Artstation.

Some people use Facebook, twitter, instagram, and others.
I just don't care for some of those sites, but others will use any platform available.
Sapiento and Max are both really good at their presence online, being on most sites.
It is just something you do as a freelance artist, putting your work out where it will get seen, wherever that may be.

This.

DA also helps because for many people it tends to be the No.1 spot to go to when they think about art.

Freelancing is a game of maximizing your exposure, preferably on platforms that you are comfortable with. I've gotten some commissions via Facebook, some via DA, a ton through the guild and more recently some through my blog. Ultimately, it's a game of patience as well: you need to build up your presence, expand your portfolio, throw your name out there. In time, people will then find their way to you.

[johnvanvliet]

many years ago i had an account , never liked it much

last year i set up a new account

again , there is nothing there for me - it is mostly 90+% useless for me

[ThomasR]

Had an account for years, feeding from others art before I started drawing myself. I recently got my first demand for a map that I did not chase. As others said, maximizing exposure is the key to live from your art and DA is the website with the most traffic I guess.

[Gamerprinter]

I have a DeviantArt account, but as far as traffic there - I'd say it's minimal. I use it exclusively so when specific publishers or others want to see one place with all my maps, I point a link there. I don't consider Deviant Art particular beneficial overall - no more than this community, anyway. I get majority of my publisher contacts through Facebook and Google Plus.

[Wired]

I have a DeviantArt account, but as far as traffic there - I'd say it's minimal. I use it exclusively so when specific publishers or others want to see one place with all my maps, I point a link there. I don't consider Deviant Art particular beneficial overall - no more than this community, anyway. I get majority of my publisher contacts through Facebook and Google Plus.

Honestly, Google Plus is a closed book to me. I just can't seen to find an approach to using it competently, and consequently I've never gotten any commission requests through it. It's not even "What am I doing wrong?" but more "Just what the heck am I supposed to do, period?!"

[Mouse]

You aren't alone - Google Plus is just plain weird, Wired

[DanielHasenbos]

DeviantArt is quite useful I'd say. I haven't actually gotten any commissions from it, but I did get a couple of requests and that was with very little activity and interaction. I assume that when you put some time and effort in interaction with people and regularly posting art it's a good place to get exposure. And, as has been said before: any kind of exposure is good so you want to get your work out there wherever you can so that people will be able to find you easily.